The First Nationals End Losing Streak, Win Twice on Saturday

The North Platte First Nationals snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday by beating Beatrice and Lincoln NE Judds in a tournament in Lincoln.

North Platte (26-16) beat Beatrice 8-3 in its first game of the day then finished with a 6-3 win over Lincoln NE Judds in the nightcap.

The First Nationals jumped on Beatrice early by scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning. The inning was highlighted by a Luke Volz RBI double and a two-run home run by Drew Callaghan. North Platte added two more runs in the third and their final run in the fifth inning to go up 8-0. Beatrice scored a run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh to get on the board as the First Nationals won 8-3.

Dalton Pflughaupt pitched the complete game for North Platte and earned the win by allowing three runs, two earned, on 10 hits, while striking out five batters and walking two. Volz led the way at the plate by going 3-4 with a double, a triple and three runs batted in and a run scored. Alec Wesslund was 2-3 with a run scored and Callaghan’s home run was his second this year.

North Platte ended the day with a 6-3 win over Lincoln NE Judds. Judds took the early lead by scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. North Platte took control of the game in the top of the third inning by scoring three runs thank in part to an RBI double by Darian Allberry. Lincoln NE made it a 3-2 game by scoring a run in the bottom of the third inning. The First Nationals scored a run in the fourth, sixth and seventh inning to go up 6-2 before Judds scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-3 final.

Riley Vierya earned the complete game win on the mound for North Platte by allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits. He also struck out two batters and walked two. Volz stayed hot by going 2-4 at the plate with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Alex Harms and Marcos Silos each had two hits and Jayden Kruse led North Platte with two RBI.

North Platte continues play in the Lincoln tournament on Sunday with a 10:00 am game against Norris. The First Nationals return to Bill Wood Field Wednesday with an 8:00 pm game against Gering.

The North Platte Juniors won two games on Saturday as well. The Juniors beat Millard Sox 7-3 and Lincoln Carpetland 8-6 in Hastings. The First Nationals Juniors are now 21-8 and play Fremont in Grand Island at 10:00 am Sunday. They also play Gering on Wednesday at Bill Wood Field with a 5:30 pm first pitch.